Lock for loose-leaf binders.



UNITED STATES -ANDREW D. HULoU sT,

TATE OFFICE. i

OF cnioAoo, ILLINOIS.

LOCK FDR LOOSE-LEAF BLINDERS.

' I No. 830,835.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 11,19oe.

Application filed April 18, 1906. Serial No. 312.310-

' To all whom it mag concern.-

Be it known that 1, ANDREW D. HUL UIsT,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,'have invented a'certain new and useful Improvement in Locks for Loose-Leaf Binders, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description.

My invention relates to a lock for a looseleaf binder or similar device; and its object is to provide a simple, efficient, and cheaplymanufactured locking device which when held in one position will be acted upon by gravity to automatically lock the binder in its adjusted position, but when held in a reverse position will be automatically unlocked.

when the parts are held in one position the lock is operative, but when held in the reverse position the lock is inoperative.

My invention may be more readily under-' stood byreference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1"1s a perspective view of a binder invention.- Fig. 2 is an en-" larged vertica section of the locking device,

embodying m showing the parts in locked rela'tion-.- F'g. 3

is a fragmentary view similar to Fig 2, but in reversed osition, showing the parts "unlocked. ig.4 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 2, showing amodified form of lockingin. Fig. 5 is a separated view of one of the lbcking members. I

Similar numerals of reference refer to similar arts wherever shown. 'IIre opposed clamping-plates 1 2 have near each end thereof the usual telescoping members 3 3, containing springs which operate normally to separate the clamping-plates.

Said plates may beattached by any suitable means to the covers. of the binder.

These parts form no part of my present invention, andtheir operation being well understood a further description thereof is unnecessary. The locking mechanism for holding said plates in any desired adjustment toward or from each other is shown in detail in Figs. 2 and 3. A tube i isf rotatably secured to the plate 1 by a screw-bolt 5, which passes through the plate 1' into the threaded end of the, tube 4. The'othei' end of said tube is also interiorly threaded to receive the threaded shank 6 of the head 7L Said head has a hole 8 drilled, therethrou h, said hole preferably extending diagonaI ly from the lower end of the head into the interior of the tube 4. a

A pin 9 is freely slidable in the opening 8, the

inner surface of the tube 4 acting as a stop to prevent the displacement of the. pin, as shown in Fig. 3.

. A tube 10 is secured to the plate 2 and has an interior diameter ap roximately the same as that of the cylindrica head 7. The tube 4 telescopes in the tube 10, and in order to prevent the se aration of the parts the telescoping end of t e tube 10has a restricted opening large enough to permit the passage of the tube 4, but too small to ermit thewithdrawal of the head 7.

the in 9 which is adapted to project outwarfly has .a restricted throat, providing a' head or flange l2, adapted when the pin is so projected to enga e the threads 11, and thus ock the parts in t eir adjusted osition. As before stated, the pin 9 is free y slidable in the hole .8, so that when the parts are held in the position shown in Fig. 2 with the plate 1 he tube 10,v has threads 11 upon its interior. That end of above the plate 2 the pin 9 is acted upon by gravity and is projected outwardly into engagement with the threads 11. 1 When held in the reverse: position, (shown in Fig. 3,) a

slight pressure of the plates 1 an'd'2 toward each other releases the pin 9 from engage ment'with the threads, and gravity acts upon the pin to retract the same, thereby unlocking the tubes 4 and 10 and permitting the ICO plates 1 and 2 to be adjusted to or from each' other.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a modified form of locking-pin 9, having a double head 12 adapted to simultaneously engage two of the threads 11 of the tube 10. In this case it is desirablethat the opening 8- extend more nearl vertically through the head 7 in order that oth flanges of the head 12 may come into engagement with the threads. The tube 4 is preferably rotatably secured to the plate 1,- so that when the clamping-plates are with a hole near its free end, and a pin having pressed together any loosening can be taken up by rotating the tube 4, thereby screwing said tube farther into the tube 10. For this purpose the screw enters the tube 4 far enough to proper] plate 1, and yet olds it sufficiently loose thereon, so that by further turnin the screw 5-as, for example, with a screwriverthe tube 4 is rotated, as above described.

I claim V 1. A lock for loose-leaf binders, comprising clamping-plates, a tube secured to one ofsaid plates, said tube having a threaded interior, a'post secured to the other plate and telescoping into said tube, said post-being provided a restricted portion near one end and a head uponthe en of said restricted portion, said pin being slidable inthe hole in said post and controlled b, gravity to regulate the engagement of the ead of the pin.with the interior threads of said tube to automatically lock said parts together when in one position and to unlock them when in the reverse position. 2. The combination with telescoping tubes,

of an enlarged solid cylindrical head threaded 1 in the end of the inner tube, said head being provided with a small hole extending diagonally from the interior of one tube to the interiorof the other tube, a pin slidable in said head for engaging the threaded interior of the outer tube to lock said tubes telescoped at I pin having a head adapted to engage or disengage thethreaded interior of'the outer tube when the parts are held in one or the other of I two positions to lock the tubular members in their adjusted positions or to unlockthe same respectively, a clamping-plate secured any desired adjustment, and a pair of clamping-jaws mounted upon the non-telescoped ends of said tubes.

, 3. A look comprising clam ing-plates, a tube, a screw passing throug one of said plates into the threaded end of said tube to rotatably secure the same to the plate, an enlarged cylindrical head threaded in the other en of said tube, said head havinga hole extending obliquely therethrough, a second tube secured to the other plate and into which said first tube telescopes, said latter tube having a threaded interior and a restricted opening at its telescoped end to prevent the separation of the parts, and a pin having a restricted portion near one end and a head upon the end of said restricted portlon, said I secure said tube to the.

' pin being slidable in the hole in said head and controlled by gravity to cause the engagement of the head of the pin with the threads of the outer tubes to automatically lock said tubes together when in one position and to unlock them when in the reverse 'osition.

4. In a locking device for a loose izzafbinder,

the combinationwith telescoping tubes the outer of which has a screw-threaded interior and a restricted opening at its telescoping end, of an enlarged cylindrical head threaded in the end of the inner tube to prevent the se aration of said tubes, said head having a ho e drilled diagonally through the same into the interior of the tube, a slidable pin in said hole, said pin having a restricted portion near one end and a head upon the end of. said restricted portion, said head being controlled by gravity to engage or disengage the threaded interior of the outer tube, whereby when the telescoped members are in one position they are locked and when in a reverse position they are freely adjustable, respectively,

and a pair of opposed clam ingeplates mount ed upon the no'ntelesco e ends of said tubes.

5. In a locking device or a loose-leaf binder, the combination with telescoping tubings the outer of which has a threaded interior and a restricted o ening at one end, of an enlarged head .detac ably secured upon the telescop-. ing end of the other tubing, a pin slidable in a hole drilled diagonally in said head, said u on the outer tubular member, an opposed o ampingplate, and a screw passing through said plate into the threaded end of said inner tubing to rotatably secure the-same to the .plate. 

